Fine China
by febitoria
Summary: What is Elizabeth was never taken by the Balck Pearl? Sparrowbeth, and a bit of Norribeth in the beginning. Will Turner and Anna Maria!
1. Introduction

_Fine China_

**Author's Note: **Hello again! I came up with this idea while I was reading Harry Potter. I know, I'm a bit confused. Ummm... Yeah.

**Summary: **What if Elizabeth had not been captured by the crew of the Black Pearl? What would have happened? Would fate had unraveled to reveal the same coarse? ES/JS, and maybe some ES/JN. Will and Anna Maria.

* * *

Elizabeth fingered the finely wrought spoon of hard, cold silver. Its design was wild and free, extending around the handle and weaving through itself. A small bird flew gracefully through the vines, across the setting sun and over the sea. She stroked the smooth metal of the bird with her thumb, remembering.

Why would she not remember? It had been the best day of her life! She was proposed to, she had even been rescued by an extremely handsome pirate... a pirate whose name she would never forget...

_"Well, well, well Jack Sparrow, isn't it?"  
"Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please sir."  
"I don't see your ship, Captain."  
"I'm in the market, as it were."_

She remembered it so clearly, like watching it through a glossy windowpane... it was hard to believe it wasn't only a few hours ago, but a year? No, it could not be possible, and yet the calendar said it was... Captain Jack was still sitting in his cell after being sprung by Will a week afterward and recaptured no more than two days before the present. Will had left her to be on the sea again, something he had always yearned to do. Will had returned after his adventure about 5 months before, and seemed to have completely forgot about her: instead there was a beautiful, slightly dark skinned girl named Ana Maria, who he had met as an acquaintance of Jack Sparrow's. So much had passed since then.

Including her own wedding. After Will had left "gallivanting after pirates" and her father had put it, she had no choice but to accept the Commodore's proposal. Her corset had reduced her waist to almost fifteen inches by then, neat and tidy and graceful (and painful) enough for a lady, a fine woman. Her father had also retired to his London estate for the year, and she had been left here in Port Royal with the man with the least emotion. Whenever she expressed her own emotion about his lack there of, he simply said "fine women do not show their emotions in public, and preferably not privately either, you shall dishonor yourself and I if you continue!" at which she would glare at him and retire for the night.

Secretly, however, she would read exciting books about adventure and romance, and pirates! Her favorite book to read was always _Infamous Pyrates and Their Nature, _most of the entire chapter on the modern pirates of the world. Two entire pages were devoted to Captain Jack Sparrow:

_"He is said to have once been captain of the legendary ship _The Black Pearl, _notorious for it's crews unforgiving nature and brutal treatment of prisoners and adversaries. He was, however, marooned on a small island where he supposedly escaped using only sea turtles and his own hair. Some of his other famous adventures are that he sacked Nassau Port without using any shot, and possibly (if you believe such things) had encounters with the fearsome Davy Jones and his crew and boarded the_ Flying Dutchman_. Said to be the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Sea, he holds one of the 'Nine Pieces of Eight'. His mutinous first mate is the Lord of the Caspian Sea, and has been such for some time._

Following this paragraph was a pair of sketches, worn and faded, of his face and the Black Pearl. The face looked nothing like him at all, with not charisma (he had this morbid, sullen look, like he had died peacefully, but still brutally in a away) and his hair was sorter, with no dreadlocks and very few trinkets. The only similarity between the Captain who had rescued her and the dead-looking pirate in the picture was his naturally handsome features. The Black Pearl seemed to be surrounded by a thin fog, just as she had glimpsed it in her youth, and ragged, black sails, supposedly being pushed along by a supernatural wind.

_All of his known family members have also been branded, but have died either by the hangman's noose or in their line of lawlessness. Captain Teague (last name unknown) is said to be his father, and holds the key to the Pyrate Codex, held in an unknown place. His mother is unknown, but is said to be the infamous Anne Bonny, who is said to have escaped execution for a time by telling the officials she was pregnant. She was later (not but a month before her due) was ransomed by her father, a wealthy plantation owner. Though it is unknown if he has siblings or any other close relationship of blood, he is feared completely for his own reputation._

_This man is easy to recognize due to his long dark dreadlocks, kohl lined eyes, filthy appearance, and his brand and tattoo of a sparrow flying over the sea (this symbols freedom). If you are to come across said pirate, be cautious and aware of his nature and demeanor, and report his immediately to officials._

A rather large list of the crimes committed by this 'dangerous fugitive' lie below this official-looking ending. Pilfering, plundering, and impersonating a clergy of England... all seem like grand and dangerous adventures... something she had been craving for a long time now. She snapped the book closed as the door to the study creaked open, and her husband's head popped in. James was so sweet and good-natured, never wanting to hurt anyone, but willing to do so for his job. She admired her husband, loved him like a brother, but he was always so formal. He smiled stiffly down at her, in her favorite cozy chair by the window overlooking the sea.

"May I join you for tea?" Dead silence followed. All to be heard was the gentle tones of the clock in the corner and birds twittered outside as the sun peaked out from behind a cloud. Nodding, she patted the seat beside her. He nodded in return, instead drawing a seat across from her and waving the maid over to pour his cup. Elizabeth grimaced down at her now chill tea, pushing it away and opening a book of poetry sitting beside her to her marked page.

_Flowers whisper to the breeze,  
breathing their gentle song.  
Dancing in a sudden gust,  
rooted there daylong._

_The wind says to the flower,  
chant your song light,  
speak no more  
of your delicate petals bright._

Yawning softly, she closed the book quietly and turned her head to gaze out the window. Every poem a woman reads must have meaning, so she does not cross God like Eve. Be quiet, delicate, stay were you are, vanity is a sin and should not be practiced. The main points drown all other meaning: be good, don't have fun!

She focused her eyes on the horizon.

Black flags.


	2. Birds of a Feather

_Birds of a Feather_

**Author's Note: **I sure hope you understand the irony of the title. I don't think any of you are that stupid, however, so you can figure it out. That is, if you haven't already.

**Summary:** "Do you really think there is even the slightest chance"

* * *

Elizabeth craned her neck to see more of the ship. Those arn't black flags... sails! She shivered as she remembered that night, the night she met Jack Sparrow. Canons boomed, rocking the foundations of her town, the crashing and crackling in the streets bellow, the calls of thieves, criminals and pirates. She remembered thinking that somewhere below her Will and Jack were running through the streets, finding their way to friends, family, or safety. She had run out of her room as those filthy toads shot the butler who had served her tea not but hours before, and they just laughed. They laughed and laughed, it was a hideous, menacing sound full of evil and hatred of the world.Before they could see her, she ran back into her room and darted under her bed, sure not to leave any sign she had been there. Tucking herself in the darkest and dirtiest corner, she listened in pure horror as her friends and maids and butlers and cooks were shot, taken, or run through with rusty, dirt coated swords... 

It had been horrible, the worst night of her life, far surpassing the night she first laid eyes on the Black Pearl. She had never heard such terrible sounds, screams and yells and groans of agony. And when it was all over, she only ever felt guilt. _I could have helped them, I could have saved their lives had I had enough strength and courage to just run the other way!_ _Their lives need not had been wasted because she ran for her bed like the little brat she was. The coward she was._ No good came of that night. Even Will deserted her. He got it in his mind to go hunt down the Black pearl, and who better to do it with then Jack Sparrow? Elizabeth was left with no choice what-so-ever but to marry Commodore Norrington and live her live in petticoats and corsets, sewing her way through the rest of her tired, lonely life. She had also lost the pirate medallion that night, the only thing she could have had to remember Will. When she had run back so suddenly, it had unlatched itself, slipping from her neck to the floor. The greedy pirates must have taken it with them, not thinking anything of it except that it was odd to find a pirate symbol in a known politician's mansion. Nothing more.

But then of coarse, Will returned with a beautiful woman acquaintance of Jack Sparrow's on his arm, married and his mind erased of her. James, all of a sudden, was even more formal when he returned, as if he could sense she still had feelings for this other man. Of coarse she had, she had spent half of her life thinking of him! The other side of the situation was that she could finally be at ease: she no longer had to face the choice of embarrassing her father by marrying a blacksmith, or marry someone else. She had James, who cared about her, and she herself had affection for, and she was as happy as she had ever been.

Except for the lack of freedom in the Commodore's household. She, being a woman, had never had true freedom, but the stone walls of his large estate were confining in a way that at times she felt she was in a prison. She could have gone with Will to sail the seas and find the pirates who killed our friends, but no. He thought her too delicate, to breakable, to take... to use. Like fine china, she was decoration, not meant for the food life can offer. Not worthy because she was thin and womanly, not strong and brawny like... like Will never was himself!

She blinked, regaining consciousness of the situation. The Black Pearl had returned, probably to help Jack Sparrow to escape or to pillage yet again. She had to find Will, to tell him, so he could decide what was best. James would never allow her to leave if she told him there was a pirate ship say, twenty miles away. She would have to make an excuse, some way to get away from his view and speak to the blacksmith by the dock. His wive would probably be at their home at this time, sewing, or out having more freedom than she _ever_ had.

Twisting around, she glanced at James, who was reading a letter from the Admiral, and back out to the ship, still speeding forward at some unearthly rate. "James, darling, I - I need to pick up some clothe from Mrs. Higgins. She said our order would arrive today, I had forgotten until just now. Her shop will be closing soon, I must hurry," she lied hurried, jumping up as he eyed her. Rushing out of the room, through the halls to the front door and out into the bright sunlight, her thoughts turned around sparrows, swans, and black sails.


End file.
